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What is "by chance"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
by chance

May \May\ (m[=a]), v. [imp. Might (m[imac]t)] [AS. pres. m[ae]g I am able, pret. meahte, mihte; akin to D. mogen, G. m["o]gen, OHG. mugan, magan, Icel. mega, Goth. magan, Russ. moche. [root]103. Cf. Dismay, Main strength, Might. The old imp. mought is obsolete, except as a provincial word.] An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by expressing:

  1. Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener expressed by can.

    How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health!
    --Spenser.

    For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible.
    --Bacon.

    For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: ``It might have been.''
    --Whittier.

  2. Liberty; permission; allowance.

    Thou mayst be no longer steward.
    --Luke xvi. 2.

  3. Contingency or liability; possibility or probability.

    Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance.
    --Pope.

  4. Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark.

    How old may Phillis be, you ask.
    --Prior.

  5. Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. ``May you live happily.''
    --Dryden.

    May be, & It may be, are used as equivalent to possibly, perhaps, maybe, by chance, peradventure. See 1st Maybe.

Wiktionary
by chance

prep.phr. accidental or unexpected.

WordNet
by chance

  1. adv. in an incidental manner; "these magnificent achievements were only incidentally influenced by Oriental models" [syn: incidentally, accidentally]

  2. through chance, "To sleep, perchance to dream.." [syn: perchance]

  3. by accident; "betrayed by a word haply overheard" [syn: haply, by luck]

  4. without advance planning; "they met accidentally" [syn: accidentally, circumstantially, unexpectedly] [ant: intentionally]

Wikipedia
By Chance

"By Chance" is a song by American hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd. It was released on February 13, 2016 by EarDrummers and Interscope Records, as the first single from their second studio album SremmLife 2. The song was produced by Mike Will Made It and Resource.

Usage examples of "by chance".

But if they knew that you were a man like themselves, cast by chance upon their shores, they would perhaps make you a slave, or might put you to death in one of the temples.

Normally that would have been Frazer Thin-on-top Frankie, but just by chance old F.

Then he squinted into the darkness and lowered the gun, speaking in a voice as convivial as if he were encountering an old friend by chance while strolling the boardwalk in Atlantic City.